


“What I need... is a strong drink and a peer group.”

by notjustmom



Series: Towel Day 2018 [41]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Douglas Adams, First Kiss, M/M, Towel Day 2018, greg is not an idiot, the boys are idiots as usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-04 16:50:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15151469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: John and Greg meet up for their regular pub night...





	“What I need... is a strong drink and a peer group.”

"Going out." John muttered in Sherlock's direction.

"Ah, yes, it is Wednesday, isn't it." Sherlock mumbled without looking away from the tangled mess on the wall. "Enjoy."

"You know, you could always come out with me."

"Point would be what, exactly?" Sherlock growled out under his breath.

"A change? Chance for a bit of, I don't know, fun?"

Sherlock turned to look at him in surprise. "Fun? Is that why you go out every Wednesday night with Graeme, to the same local, to play darts, have a few pints and wake up grumpier on Thursday morning? Hummmph." He turned his attention back to the wall and his silence told John he was being dismissed.

"Fine. See you later."

"Hmmm."

 

"John? You're quiet tonight, and you've been nursing that one all night. What's he done now?"

"What? Hmm. Nothing. Nothing much. Why do we do this?"

"This? You mean meet up once a week?"

John took a sip of his rather warm and flat lager and pushed it away.

"Bit of fun? Time away from the missus? Chance to see what's brewing, sometimes folks forget I'm a copper -"

John laughed. "No, they don't Greg, sorry to burst that particular bubble, but you probably came into the world lookin' like you belonged at the Yard."

"Yeah, that's true enough. What'd he say to you that's got your pants in a twist?"

"He just wondered why I go out to the same place, on the same night, every week."

"Mebbe he's just jealous?"

"Sherlock? Jealous? He's at home playing with a case."

"No case from me, mate. Is it the crazy one with all the red strings tangled all over the place?"

"They all have red string, and it's always tangled." John snorted as he grabbed a handful of pretzels from the bowl on the bar.

"Nah, this one - it's one he's been working at since, oh, since he was twelve. It's like one of those impossible math problems, know what I mean? Those problems they work on when they need to clear their heads? My wife - when she's frustrated, she dumps out all her junk drawers in the kitchen, of course, she ends up saving everything, it's just a bit neater, and it makes her feel like she's accomplished something. Go home, John. You two have been dancing around the damn elephant as long as you've known each other."

"Elephant."

"Come on, John? You don't see it?"

"See -?"

"Why aren't you on a date tonight?"

"Cuz I'm -"

"Yer waiting fer him to tell you." Greg shook his head and took another pull on his bottle. "You should know by now that he isn't going ta make the first move. He thinks he did that a long time ago, when he asked you to move into Baker Street."

"Did he say something?" John asked him quietly.

"Nah, I'm a decent copper, Sherlock wouldn't waste his time with me if he didn't think so, and he wouldn't still be at Baker Street with you, if he didn't choose to be there. You know how he is, he could disappear into London anytime, even Myc would find it difficult to track him if he worked at it. He's where he is because he chooses to be, and you are the only reason I can see for him to - eh, don't mind me. I'd just like to see you two happy, he's a decent guy underneath all that posh arrogance, and you, I saw you that first case - I know when someone has a bad case of it. And boy, did you. Still do, I imagine."

"Greg -" John slid down from his stool and threw a few pounds on the bar. "I need to -"

"Go. Luck to it, John." Greg turned his attention to the bartender after he watched John walk out the door. "Gimme another."

"Kids and wife away, Greg?"

"Yeah, at her mum's, school holidays. I'm not much for holidays, even when I can get time, it's just spending hours in the car driving back and forth -"

"I hear ya."

 

"You're home early." Sherlock observed from the depths of the couch.

"Solve the case, then." John snarked lightly at him, but not unkindly.

"Lestrade told you."

"You could have just said."

"Said what?"

"That you're, I don't know, interested?"

"I erred on the side of caution."

"You what?"

"At Angelo's - you were already distracting me from the case. It should never have taken me that long to figure out it was a cabbie. When you asked about my, preferences, I was, well, as I said, flattered -"

"So I recall." John said quietly.

"and confused. No, that's the wrong word. I had been out of rehab such a short time, and I didn't think, I wasn't sure. I've never been someone who easily trusts their instincts, they have steered me wrong in the past. My instinct told me that you, well, in spite of your issues, you were a good match for me. I usually go by what I can see and hear, and -"

"Touch?" John knelt by the couch and waited for Sherlock to turn away from the wall, so he could look into his bright green eyes.

"John? Why now?"

"Sometimes, it's hardest to see what is what in front of you, and I guess I needed a bit of a nudge to see what you've been trying to -"

"Stop talking, John." Sherlock scooted closer to John and laid his large, elegant hands on John's face, and after a moment of stillness, drew him into a kiss of such gentleness and depth that John was thankful he was already on his knees, he knew if he had been standing he would have become little more than a puddle on the floor. Sherlock pulled back and watched as John caught his breath again. "Is that clear enough, John?"

"Crystal. May I please take you to bed, Sherlock?"

"Please."


End file.
